Jacob and Mickey had
barely escaped from Steerage Class with their lives. The water they
swam through had chilled them to the bone, but at least now they had
a chance. The boys wasted no time making their way to the boat deck,
only to find that the last lifeboat had been launched.

"Oh my God!"
screamed Mickey. "How are we going to get off this ship now?"

"I don't know."
said Jacob. "Let me think for a moment."

"Are we going
to die Jacob?" asked a frightened Mickey.

"Not if I can
help it." replied Jacob. "I've waited for you my whole
life, and I'm not going to give up after I just found you. Let's go
to my room quickly and get some better clothes on. We also need to
get you a life vest."

The boys hurried
back to Jacob's room where Jacob found some insulated, waterproof
clothes for both of them. He then grabbed a spare life vest for
Mickey. The boys put on the warmer clothes and rushed back out to the
deck. When they got back to the deck they couldn't believe how many
people seemed to be accepting their fate. Even the ship's band was
continuing to play, as if nothing unusual were happening. It was now
becoming very difficult to get around on the deck, due to the extreme
list of the sinking ship.

"The way I see
it," said Jacob, "no one is going to come near this ship to
look for survivors until the ship is gone. We need to stay away from
the water as long as we possibly can because we won't be able to stay
in the water for long, not even with these clothes."

"Do you think
we can make it?" asked Mickey.

"I don't know,"
said Jacob, "but this is our only chance right now."

The boys began to
work their way toward the bow of the ship, as the ship's stern was
almost underwater now. The ship was listing more and more all the
time, which made it very difficult to reach the bow. The boys did
finally make it to the bow though, and it seemed as though only a few
other people had come up with the same idea.

"I don't think
we have much more time left on this ship." said Jacob.

"I'm scared."
said Mickey. "Could you hold me Jacob?"

Jacob wrapped his
arms around Mickey as he said, "We need to stay here until the
water gets right up to us." He then gave Mickey a passionate
kiss and continued, "When it gets harder to stay on our feet
we're going to have to hold on to the railing tightly. We have to be
the last ones off the ship." Jacob kissed Mickey again very
deeply then said, "If you do fall overboard too soon swim as
fast as you can in the direction that the lifeboats went towards. The
water is going to be very cold, but try not to think about it. You
have to keep swimming, that's the only chance we have."

"I love you
Jacob," said Mickey, "and I always will no matter what
happens."

"I love you too
Mickey," said Jacob, "and I'm glad that we finally found
each other even if only for a short time. There's always the next
life if things don't work out."

At this point the
ship was listing so badly that the boys had to hold on to the railing
to keep from falling overboard. The water was getting closer to them
with every passing moment. The band had long since been unable to
continue playing, and now all that could be heard was the sounds of a
dying ship. Metal tearing, wood shattering, and people screaming were
the sounds that serenaded the boys as they waited for the approaching
water. Suddenly the ship lurched violently, causing Mickey to lose
his grip and fall to the water below. The water was so cold that it
numbed Mickey's mind for a few seconds, then he remembered what Jacob
had told him and began swimming.

Meanwhile Jacob
could not think of what to do after his Mickey had fallen overboard.
He knew that he should stay with the ship as long as he could, but
his Mickey was out in the water all alone. As the water got closer
and closer he finally decided to go after Mickey. Jacob took a deep
breath and let himself drop to the water below. He never saw the
debris that struck him in the head, and knocked him unconscious.
Jacob was left drifting away from the ship, face up in the water.

Mickey was swimming
with every ounce of strength that he had left. He had made it almost
a half mile from the ship before he could swim no further. He turned
to look at the ship that had caused him to be here alone, in the
middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The ship was sinking fast now and the
screaming was becoming more desperate. He couldn't bear the thought
of his Jacob still being on that ship. Then the last thing he saw
before drifting into unconsciousness was the Titanic finally slipping
beneath the waves.

After the Titanic
had plunged beneath the waves Mary spotted a form she recognized
floating in the water. "Over there, in the water!" yelled
Mary to the people who were guiding the lifeboat. "I think I
know that person in the water!"

The lifeboat made
it's way to Mickey, and several people dragged the unconscious boy on
board. "Oh my God!" shouted Mary. "It's my son's
friend, and he's still alive. Get me something dry to wrap him in!"

Soon Mickey was
wrapped in a couple of dry blankets, and Mary was trying to raise his
body temperature. Mickey did begin to warm up and stopped shivering,
but would not regain consciousness. The lifeboat did search the area
were Mickey was found, at Mary's insistence, but no sign of her son
was found. The other people on the boat assured Mary that another
lifeboat may have picked up her son, if Mickey and Jacob had stayed
together. Mary was sure that the boys were together, and that Jacob
would be found when all the lifeboats had been accounted for.

In the early morning
hours the Titanic's lifeboats were picked up by the Carpathia, the
only ship that had responded immediately to the Titanic's distress
call. By this time Mickey had regained consciousness. As soon as no
more lifeboats could be found, Mickey began searching the Carpathia
for Jacob. After several hours though Mickey could find no trace of
him.

Mickey went to Mary
in tears to tell her the bad news as he said, "I'm so sorry
ma'am, I cannot find Jacob anywhere."

"Weren't you
two together though?" asked Mary.

"We were until
I fell overboard." cried Mickey. "If I hadn't fallen
overboard maybe I could have helped him."

"And if you
were with him maybe we wouldn't have found you either." said
Mary. Suddenly the events since last night began registering in
Mary's head, and she completely broke down. Mickey held onto Mary as
the two tried to comfort each other.

The Carpathia did
search the area where the Titanic had sunk, but did not find any more
survivors. Mary searched the water in the area of the disaster, but
could not find her son's body. She was not convinced that he was
dead, but she also did not have him with her. Mickey was also dealing
with his loss. Not only did he lose the person he felt he was meant
to be with, but he also lost his entire family. Mickey never felt
more alone in his life than he did on the rest of the way to New
York.

Although Mickey did
help Mary greatly aboard the Carpathia, it was a great relief for her
to meet her husband in New York. By this time the whole world knew of
the most terrible shipping disaster ever known to man. When Michael
found out how Mickey helped Mary, and tried to help Jacob, he
immediately filed for the adoption of Mickey. Mary and Michael would
now raise Mickey as they had been raising Jacob. The couple,
especially Mary, grasped onto Mickey to fill the void left by their
son.

Although this is the
obvious end to chapter 5, I do not wish to leave the story this way.
This is mostly due to fear of hate mail, hehe. Therefore I present
the prelude for chapter 6.

Fate - by tim

Chapter 6 prelude

It had been one year
since the tragedy that changed Mickey's life forever. He was now
getting ready for another day at the private school in Washington
D.C. that his new parents were sending him to. Mickey now loved Mary
and Michael as if they were his true parents, as they were now the
closest thing he had left to parents. Although he still missed Jacob
very much, the nightmares of that night had become less frequent.
Little did Mickey know that this day would turn out to be the
happiest day of his life.

On the other side of
town, it had been two weeks since Jacob had regained his memory. He
had been suffering from amnesia since his dive from the bow of the
Titanic. Now though his memory was back, and he had found out that
Mickey was now living with his parents in Washington D.C. He would
have returned home sooner but the ship that plucked him from the
overturned lifeboat had been on it's way to England. Jacob was the
only one left alive on the lifeboat. One of the Titanic's crew had
tied the boy to the boat before he died, so that Jacob would not slip
off. Jacob was nursed back to health in England, and it seemed to
take an eternity before he finally regained his memory. Now his
memory was back though, and he intended to give his loved ones the
surprise of their lives.

Now I feel much
better in ending this chapter. Please catch chapter 6 for the reunion
of Jacob and Mickey. Send all comments to: TimTheStoryGuy01@cs.com
.